The story of Belleek Pottery
Belleek owes its existence to John Caldwell Bloomfield, who inherited the Castle Caldwell estate and, in the wake of the Great Famine, looked for a way to give his tenants work. A survey of his land found the raw materials a pottery needs — feldspar, kaolin, flint, clay and shale — and Bloomfield set about turning that geology into an industry.
He brought in two partners to make it happen: Robert Williams Armstrong, a London architect who designed the pottery and drove its technical ambition, and David McBirney, a wealthy Dublin merchant who put up the money. The pottery was established in 1857 and at first made everyday earthenware and domestic ware.
The breakthrough came in 1863, when the works succeeded in producing the fine Parian porcelain that made the name famous — the thin, creamy, lustrous china still woven into baskets and shaped into flowers by hand today. Belleek won international prizes through the late 19th century and became one of Ireland's most recognisable crafts.
The original building produced ware until 1988, when the company changed hands and a visitor centre opened the following year. The factory still works the same site on the Erne, making Belleek Living Parian china and welcoming visitors onto the floor to watch it being made.